


Scilicet Addendum: Filius Meus, Vita Mea

by Captain_Rachel



Series: The Rachel Wayne Universe [8]
Category: Batman (Movies - Nolan), Batman - All Media Types, Batman: The Animated Series, DCU, DCU Animated, Justice League & Justice League Unlimited (Cartoons)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Always a Different Sex, Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, F/M, Genderswap
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-24
Updated: 2017-06-19
Packaged: 2018-10-23 09:48:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 11,199
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10717002
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Captain_Rachel/pseuds/Captain_Rachel
Summary: There are an infinite number of parallel Earths. Sometimes the differences are so small as to be neigh on unnoticeable— but on some they are not. For ever world where Thomas and Martha Wayne grandchild joined them before their daughter, there are worlds where Rachel Wayne and Henri Ducard’s child lived.





	1. Lex Talionis

**Author's Note:**

> Some time ago I got an anonymous message on Tumblr that said: “Would you ever consider writing an AU where Rachel’s baby lives?” Well the answer is obviously yes and here is that AU… or rather yes and here are those AUs.

**_Lex Talionis = Latin for “The Law of Revenge”_ **

Rachel Wayne has been living in the League of Shadows Monastery for a little less than a year when she gets engaged to her mentor, a man she believes is named Henri Ducard. When the man places a pendant on a silver chain around her neck and promises that the next time he leaves the Monastery he will find a ring worthy of gracing her finger the two have only been romantically involved for some two months. Most people would consider that too short a time for any offers of marriage, but then again most people would have just _asked_ and, as Henri points out when Rachel raises this point, they are not “most people.”

Three days after she accepts— without actually saying the words “yes” “I accept” or anything like that— Henri Ducard is summoned to a private meeting with Ra’s Al Ghul and several high ranking members of the League of Shadows, leaving Rachel to organize her own studies and activities for that day. So the Wayne Heiress joins a group of mentors and students who are headed to the village halfway down the mountain to pick up supplies. Rachel ends up returning to the Monastery as the sun is setting in the west, exhausted but content. The climb down and back up is the most physically demanding thing she’s done since Chao-Xing’s attempt on her life, so Rachel ends up sleeping deeply that night, with her head resting on Henri’s shoulder while his arms are wrapped around her.

The next morning Rachel Wayne wakes to the sound of her fiancé talking with someone in the antechamber which separates the hallways of the Monastery from her and Henri’s shared bedchamber. As she slowly stretches Rachel identifies the “someone” as Ubu, a tall broadly built man of indeterminate nationality who keeps his head completely shaved and spends most of his time away from the Monastery recruiting new members for the League of Shadows. Ubu had apparently set off on his latest recruitment drive just before Rachel arrived at the Monastery and had returned a few days before Chao-Xing’s attempt on her life. Rachel pauses at the edge of the bed, massaging still somewhat sore legs as the two men discuss the merits of Ubu heading to Russia next, before she stands and moves to get dressed and join them.

Rachel gets exactly halfway to the chest of drawers which contains her clothing before she all but collapses, landing painfully on her hands and knees as she starts retching and gagging. She can hear something fall to the floor in the antechamber before the door flies open, banging against the wall as Rachel starts throwing up. As she continues to retch and heave Rachel is vaguely aware of Henri placing an arm around her shoulders and ordering Ubu to fetch a doctor.

By the time Ubu returns with one of the League of Shadows doctors in tow Rachel has reached the point where she’s alternating between coughing up pure bile and painful dry heaves which make it feel like her stomach is trying to crawl up her throat. With one final gagging retch she all but falls back against Henri, too exhausted to keep her eyes more than halfway open, let alone move or speak as the doctor starts checking her over. She’s dimly aware of the doctor and Henri conversing in Chinese— which Rachel has become fluent in during her time with the League of Shadows but can’t quite manage to understand thanks to how out of it she is— as someone, likely one of the doctor’s students, brings over a cup of water and a bowl.

Rachel manages to hold on to both, although she does not protest when Henri reaches around to help her lift the cup to her lips. Whoever brought the cup and bowl moves to clean up the vomit as Rachel rinses out her mouth before concentrating on opening her eyes all the way. The conversation between Henri Ducard and the League of Shadows doctor ceases as she accomplishes this and her fiancé lifts her up, as if Rachel was a young child instead of a woman grown and places her upon their bed so that she is resting against a pillow propped up by the headboard. As Rachel answers the doctor’s questions— she hasn’t thrown up recently, she’s slightly light headed but doesn’t have a headache, she hasn’t had any abdominal pain and she hadn’t lost weight recently but had actually gained some due to being bedridden after the attempt on her life— Henri positions himself at the head of the bed, one hand resting on Rachel’s shoulder, while Ubu stands at the foot of the bed, placing an empty bucket near her feet, and the doctor starts to draw blood from Rachel’s arm.

“Is this because…” Rachel is cut off by a cough and has to pause to take a deep breath before she can continue speaking. “Because I was poisoned?”

 “I don’t know.” The doctor replies as she draws what seems like entirely too many vials of blood, given that Rachel is already feeling lightheaded and hasn’t had anything to eat or drink since the previous evening. “For now, don’t exert yourself.”

“Until those tests come back she’ll be staying right here.” Henri replies, his hand tightening on Rachel’s shoulder for a moment before relaxing as the doctor bandages the puncture site on Rachel’s arm.

“You won’t hear any objections from me.” Rachel laughs bitterly as the doctor gathers the vials and heads off with her student, who has cleaned up the vomit, while another student whose arrival Rachel hadn’t notices informs Henri that he’ll fetch a light breakfast before he also leaves the bedchamber. Once the doctor and the students have left Ubu turns towards Henri and raises one of his eyebrows, initiating a brief and entirely silent conversation between the two men which Rachel doesn’t even try to follow. Eventually Henri speaks, remarking that Ubu may wait in the antechamber “if he so desires” which leads to Ubu nodding silently before leaving the bedchamber, closing the door behind him with a gentleness which one wouldn’t expect to see in such a strongly built man.

“How long do you think it will take?” Rachel asks her fiancé, absentmindedly reaching over to touch the bandage on her arm only for Henri to reach down and take hold of her hand.

“ ** _Not long if this is due to the attempt on your life._** ” Henri replies in Arabic, squeezing her hand once before dropping it so that he can cross the room and retrieve an Arabic book from the bookshelf. “ ** _Perhaps longer if it is unrelated._** ”

“ ** _I thought I was supposed to be taking it easy._** ” Rachel smirks. Henri had started teaching her Arabic about two weeks before his proposal and while Rachel had started understanding the language quite quickly it had taken her longer to be able to respond with a speed and accent which Henri deemed acceptable.

“ ** _This is taking it easy._** ” Henri replies as he moves back towards the bed, offering Rachel the book before he sits down beside her. “ ** _Otherwise we’d be starting alruseaatu._** ”

“ ** _Alruseaatu?”_** Rachel asks as she takes the book from Henri and opens up to the bookmark located near the middle.

“Russian.” Henri clarifies.

“ ** _English, Mandarin, Arabic, Russian… how many languages do you speak?”_**

“ ** _As many as I need to._** ” Henri’s response brings a soft smile to Rachel’s lips.

“ ** _And how many of those languages do you plan on teaching me?_** ”

“ ** _I haven’t decided yet.”_** Henri replies as he glances down at the book for a moment before reaching out to point to one line. “ ** _I believe this is where we left off.”_**

“ ** _There lived in the city of Baghdad during the reign of the Commander of_** ** _the Faithful, Harun al-Rashid, a man named Sindbad the Hammal, one in poor case who bore burdens on his head for hire…_** ”

Rachel spends the next two or so hours reading from the book, with only the occasional interruption from Henri to correct her pronunciation or translate a word she can’t figure out form context clues and a brief interruption in the form of Ubu delivering a breakfast of white rice porridge and tea eggs. By the time the breakfast arrives Rachel feels quite well and ends up eating the bowl of porridge and two of the three tea eggs. Henri is finishing the remaining tea egg when Rachel is interrupted by the sound of someone knocking upon the door to their bedchamber.

“Enter.” Henri calls out, taking the book from Rachel’s hands and placing it off to the side as the door opens to admit the League of Shadows doctor.

The doctor’s gaze darts between Rachel and Henri as Ubu moves to stand in the doorway behind her, with his arms crossed in front of him. Henri clears his throat, prompting the doctor to look down at a sheet of paper she’s holding in her hands and start practically babbling out what seems like a never ending list of what _isn’t_ wrong before stuttering to a halt after she says that Rachel’s blood tested positive for “human chorionic gonadotropin.” Rachel can feel Henri stiffen at this announcement as she struggles to remember what in the hell that is only to have her through process come screeching to a halt at the next words that come out of the doctor’s mouth…

“Given the level of hCG in your blood I’d estimate that you’re four weeks pregnant.”

“Pre… pregnant?” Rachel whispers, one hand unconsciously moving to rest over her stomach. It feels as if the rug has been pulled out from underneath her— but in a good way, like the first time Henri kissed her or when she realized that Henri had proposed. Although on the outside she probably looks shell-shocked, inside Rachel is almost ecstatic, overjoyed at the idea of not just having a child but having _Henri’s_ child. However there is also a darker thought running through Rachel’s mind, one which springs from a memory of words she had exchanged with Henri Ducard shortly after joining the League of Shadows.

 ** _Your parent’s death wasn’t your fault… it was your father’s._** **_Anger does not change the fact that your father failed to act._** _The man had a gun! **Would that stop you?** I’ve had training! **The training is nothing! The will is everything!** The will? **The will to act.**_

If there was one thing that Rachel Wayne had learned in the year she had spent in the League of Shadows Monastery it was that Henri Ducard had the will to act… and the training to back that will up. He was Ra’s Al Ghul’s right hand man, possibly even his designated successor given the way that the more senior members of the League of Shadows looked to him in Ra’s Al Ghul’s absence and how often Ra’s Al Ghul consulted with him.

“Beloved?” Henri’s voice pulls Rachel out of his thoughts and she blinks, finding herself and her fiancé alone in their bedchamber.

At some point Henri has moved, so that instead of sitting at Rachel’s side on the bed he is seated in front of her, holding Rachel’s left hand in-between his hands. Although to most Henri Ducard’s face would appear blank, Rachel can see concern in the tightness of his lips and a sort of softness around the edges of his eyes. It’s obvious to Rachel that her reaction— or rather her _lack_ of a visible reaction— to the news that she is pregnant is the cause of this concern. So when Henri looks like he’s about to speak Rachel silences him by reaching out to cup his cheek with her free hand before she leans forward and presses her lips against his.

 “We’re going to have a baby.” Rachel smiles as she pulls back from the kiss and her hand falls to rest upon Henri’s broad shoulder.

“Yes…” Henri replies with a soft chuckle. “Yes we are.”

“So what happens now?” She asks.

“The League doctors aren’t exactly accustomed to monitoring pregnancies or delivering children… and this is hardly an ideal place to raise a child, let alone carry and bear one.” Henri notes. “So I suppose the two of us will have to go somewhere more civilized.”

“The two of us? But as Ra’s Al Ghul’s right hand…” Rachel trails off, unsure of what the right words are, but certain that Henri understands what she is trying to say.

There is a moment of hesitation on Henri’s part and the silence seems to press down upon Rachel as the father of her unborn child shifts to face her more fully and reaches out to grasp her hands and rest their entwined hands on the blankets covering Rachel’s lap.

“Beloved… the League of Shadows learned the value of theatricality and deception long ago. This Monastery is one example of this— it is not really our headquarters, just one base among hundreds which are scattered all over the world— and the man you call Ra’s Al Ghul is another. He is just a member of the League who has accepted the duty of masquerading as the League of Shadow’s leader. There are men like him in many, but not all, of our bases.”

“And the real Ra’s Al Ghul?”

“Is known to those who pretend to be him… and certain trusted members of the League.” Henri explains. “To everyone else he appears to ‘just’ be Ra’s Al Ghul’s right hand.”

For a moment Rachel just stares at her fiancé, taking a moment to look at him as if she is doing so for the first time even as her thoughts are consumed with memories of first meeting him in the prison cell, fighting with him in order to gain entry into the League… and the night he’d given her the pendant which she wears around her neck.

“Ra’s Al Ghul.” The name sounds different, now that she’s applying it to _him_ instead of the man pretending to be him, though she’s certain that it wouldn’t sound different to anyone else. “If not for this, when would you have told me?”

“Once you became a fully fledged member of the League.” He replies, before reaching out to brush a finger against the pendant that hands around Rachel’s neck. “Or before giving you the ring I promised… whichever came first.”

Rachel reaches up, placing her hand over Hen… over _Ra’s Al Ghul’s_ hand so that she’s pressing it against the pendant and against her chest. She remains silent for a moment as closes her eyes, takes a deep breath and gently squeezes her fiancé’s hand before letting it go. As her hand drops to her lap Ra’s pulls his back, so that he ends up holding it somewhat awkwardly in the air between them for a moment before lowering his hand to rest upon his knee.

“So… did you have a specific ‘somewhere more civilized’ in mind?” Rachel asks.

“As I said, the League of Shadows has bases all over the world… so where would you want to go?”

Her immediate reaction is to say something along the lines of “I don’t know” or “I don’t care” but as she opens her mouth she thinks of Alfred Pennyworth, she remembers how he had welcomed her back to Wayne Manor on the day of Joe Chill’s parole hearing and she thinks of the dreams she has had since she left Gotham, the dreams where he welcomes her back to the city her family built. As those images race through her mind she realizes that— despite everything that has happened and despite the fact that she’s been something close to happy here, in the League of Shadow’s Monastery— Wayne Manor is still her home and Gotham is still her city.

“I want... I want our child to be born where I was.” She tells Ra’s Al Ghul. “I want to go back to Gotham.”

For a moment Ra’s Al Ghull doesn’t say anything as, unbeknownst to Rachel, the leader of the League of Shadows thinks of his plans for Gotham. He thinks of how Rachel Wayne was supposed to lead the League of Shadows to the city of her birth and raze it to the ground. He thinks of how members of the League in America are in the process of reaching an agreement with Jonathan Crane, of how shipments of the same flower which Rachel had carried up the mountain are being prepared. But for the woman he loves and for their unborn child…for them he can be merciful.

“Then that is where we will go.”

For his wife and for their child Ra’s Al Ghul can and will tear down his plans and give Gotham another chance to redeem itself… or rather for the League of Shadows to _force_ Gotham to redeem itself instead of destroying the city.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Alexander Knox almost sleeps through the scoop of a lifetime.

It’s 4:30 AM when his cell phone goes off and he almost just rolls over and goes back to sleep… but at the last minute decides to answer it. It ends up being his sister’s ex-husband’s younger brother, who works at Gotham International Airport, calling to say that he’d spotted Alfred Pennyworth— the Wayne Family Butler who’d ended up inheriting everything after Rachel Wayne was declared dead— leaving on a private chartered plane headed towards somewhere in Asia. Not knowing what to think Alexander Knox had thanked the man and set about figuring out exactly where Pennyworth had gone… but had only managed to figure out that the plane and (presumably) the ex-Butler were due back within 10 hours. So Alexander Knox had done what any self-respecting journalist with a background in tabloid reporting would do… he’d grabbed a giant cup of coffee, his camera and some binoculars, driven out to Gotham International Airport, parked near the private hangers and settled in to wait for Alfred Pennyworth’s return.

Then Alexander Knox almost sleeps through the scoop of a lifetime _again._

It’s only due to sheer dumb luck that he wakes up form what was supposed to be just a moment’s rest for his aching eyes and, as he tries to get more comfortable to rest his eyes some more, he notices that that the plane Pennyworth had taken is taxing down the runway. He jolts upright, spilling cold coffee on himself as he fumbles with his camera and zooms in, watching the plane glide into one of the hangers. A few moments later, when Alfred Pennyworth steps out of the private hangers, Alexander Knox finds himself perfectly positioned to get what he assumes will be a shot of a disappointed old man who has failed to find Rachel Wayne… but instead he gets a series of pictures of a smiling Alfred Pennyworth leading a man and a woman towards a waiting town car. Despite the fact that she’s been missing for almost five years, Alexander Knox recognizes Rachel Wayne instantly… and he would have to be legally blind ot miss the fact that she’s more than friendly with the unknown man who has apparently accompanied her back to Gotham.

So Alexander Knox doesn’t end up sleeping through the scoop of a lifetime and _The Gotham Gazette_ scoops everyone else, running a special issue which boldly declares **_THE PRODIGAL DAUGHTER RETURNS_**. For two days the Gazette and every other paper, tabloid and news channel in Gotham and beyond run nothing but wild speculation. Then Wayne Enterprises _finally_ release a press statement. Apparently Rachel Wayne had left Gotham all those years ago on some sort of quest for inner peace, or closure or _something_ along those lines. She’d ended up in a Buddhist Monastery in some middle of nowhere place whose name no one can pronounce… and that’s where she’d met Henri Ducard, the man who accompanied her back to Gotham.

Henri Ducard is apparently a British expat, who’d been at the Monastery pursuing some sort of historical research on a topic so dull and tediously specific and unimportant to the grand scheme of things that not even Wayne Enterprises’ PR people could make it seem interesting. Of course they hadn’t tried too hard, because the only info about Henri Ducard that anyone really paid attention to was that Henri Ducard was Rachel Wayne’s common law husband.

Within a week of Rachel Wayne’s return and Henri Ducard’s arrival in Gotham the two are officially married, apparently without any real ceremony whatsoever. The Wayne Heiress keeps her last name while her husband drops his own to become Mr. Wayne. Less than a week after the marriage the news gets out that Rachel Wayne is pregnant, which is apparently why the two of them had returned to Gotham. As if that wasn’t enough to keep reporters writing about the couple for the next century Rachel Wayne proceeds to quickly and ruthlessly reclaim control of Wayne Enterprises, sending William Earle running form the hills, perused by the few members of the FBI and State Police who aren’t wrapped up in cracking down on corruption in the Gotham Police Department, which leaves only James Gordon and a handful of officers standing when the dust finally settles.

As the Gotham Police Department replenishes their ranks with new recruits and transfers from what seems like every corner of the country Rachel Wayne installs Lucius Fox as CEO of Wayne Enterprises and the two being the process of dismantling practically every project that William Earle had approved of, shutting down weapons manufacturing and reviving several projects which had previously been considered financially unviable.

Some papers note how Henri Wayne seems to be following in the footsteps of Martha Wayne and becoming a patron of various charitable causes in Gotham, such as the Police Ball and multiple community improvement projects… but not even the conspiracy theorists— who, if given the chance, will go on and on about how Henri Wayne is clearly a Reptilian who has replaced Rachel Wayne with some sort of robot— don’t suspect that by the time Rachel goes into labor the Gotham City Police is comprised almost entirely of member of the League of Shadows, or that Henri Wayne’s community improvement projects are geared towards dismantling the various mob families of Gotham.

Behind the wall of Wayne Manor live some two dozen of the most loyal men and women of the League of Shadows, many of them born to families who have been members of the League for generations and a few of whom have children of their own who have already pledged themselves to the service of Ra’s Al Ghul… and his family. As Rachel’s pregnancy progresses she gains a permanent shadow in the form of Ubu, who is the only person aside from Ra’s Al Ghul and Rachel’s chosen doctor to be allowed in the Manor’s master bedroom when Rachel goes into labor.

Seven hours later Rachel Wayne and Ra’s Al Ghul have a son, whom they name Thomas Amir Wayne— Thomas for Rachel’s father and Amir because it means _Prince_ in Arabic. Not two days after Thomas is born Rachel is back at her training so that by the time their son is two months old Rachel Wayne passes her final test, becomes a true member of the League of Shadows and takes her place as Ra’s Al Ghul’s right hand, second only to the man himself.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Four years pass in what seems like the blink of an eye.

Wayne Manor becomes the headquarters of the League of Shadows, the empty rooms filling with members of the League pulled form bases all over the world. In Gotham more members of the League fill every level of the Gotham City Police Department, practically every non-elect position in City Hall and even a few of the elected positions. The criminal families of Gotham are united at last under Carmine Falcone, but are mockeries of what they used to be, fruitlessly trying to hold on to what little importance and influence they can.

When Police Commissioner Lobe suddenly retires and is replaced by James Gordon instead of someone the crime families can control everyone in Gotham knows that the mob is going through its final dying gasps and even the foolishly optimistic know that the crime families of Gotham won’t go quietly. Everyone, from the League of Shadows to the Police Department to the ordinary people of Gotham expect that the mob will stage some sort of last stand, that they’ll lash out in a desperate attempt to turn the tide and regain control of Gotham City. Most people think that “last stand” will be an attack on some public official— some say it’ll be the Police Commissioner, some say it’ll be the Mayor, some say it’ll be the District Attorney. There are calls for the Police Ball to be canceled, or for the three not to attend— but Hannah Dent refuses to “give in to criminals”, Commissioner Gordon feels obligated to protect the DA and Mayor Garcia is up for reelection in the Fall… then Rachel and Henri Wayne make it known that they are planning to attend and the event goes ahead as scheduled, albeit with a great deal more security then has been present in many, many years.

The crime families of Gotham don’t make their last stand at the Police Ball. They don’t attack James Gordon, or Hannah Dent, or Anthony Garcia. They don’t target the entirety of the Police Ball with a bomb, or a mass shooting, or anything along those lines. People slowly start to breathe a little easier as the night goes on, thinking that perhaps they were wrong, that perhaps the crime families of Gotham had decided to go quietly into history. Rachel and the man that Gotham thinks is named Henri know better so, claiming that their son is waiting up for them at home, they leave the Police Ball early... or at least they _try_ to.

But the moment that the Waynes start to leave they are stopped by a young man in a GCPD uniform, apparently one of many officers attending the Police Ball in uniform who acting as security for the Mayor, Commissioner and District Attorney… but unlike those officers, this man isn’t a member of the League of Shadows and has the scars from a Glasgow smile enhancing the smirk on his face as he pulls out his gun.

For a moment all that Rachel Wayne can hear are the screams of the civilians around her, followed by shouts for the man with the Glasgow smile to put the gun down and what sounds like a veritable stampede. She blinks, suddenly aware that she’s staring off into space, not seeing anything and feeling strangely disconnected from her body. Then she tries to take a breath… only to choke on nothing and crumple forward as pain races through her body and she falls to the ground.

“Beloved!”

Only to be pulled into her husband’s arms as a weight presses down on her stomach, drawing a gasp of pain from her. She looks down in confusion and sees that the weight is her husband’s hand… and it’s covered in blood. Suddenly light headed, Rachel hears herself gasping out his name— his _real_ name— as her world starts to go dark. As her eyes start to close she can feel herself being lifted up and is vaguely aware that her husband is talking to someone about something called _Al-Eizariya._

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

She floats back up to a numb sort of consciousness, to find herself suspended in a dark, silent abyss… just like how she had awoken after Chao-Xing’s attempt on her life. After a moment she forces herself to open her eyes and, as she struggles to focus her vision she opens her mouth to take a deep breath… only to have something which _isn’t_ water come rushing in to her mouth and nose as she realizes she is submerged in something that feels like water but which she somehow knows _isn’t_ water. As soon as she realizes this the numbness vanishes, replaced with a burning sensation on every inch of her skin that is soon followed by what feels like liquid fire racing through her veins. She screams mindlessly and thrashes, a small and distant part of her mind noting that she’s tied down to some sort of hard surface as her eyes roll back in her head. Then she’s being pulled up, through the not-water to the surface and Rachel Antoinette Wayne fades away and Zajwa Al Ghul— _the wife of the demon_ — emerges from the sickly green liquid of the Lazarus Pit.

 

* * *

 

_Author’s Notes:_

This first note is both for this chapter and pretty much every chapter of this little collection of AUs— I am not a medical expert and while I am female I have never been pregnant. If you are a medical expert or have been pregnant then feel free to leave a comment correcting my mistakes and I’ll _probably_ fix them. I say probably because if it’s like “this ruins everything and would mean rewriting not only this fic but big chunks of _Scilicet…_ ” I will invoke the rule of comic books not being identical to real life and only partially correct things.

Now to the chapter specific notes:

The book that Rachel reads from is an unspecified Arabic version of _Arabian Nights_ , aka _One Thousand and One Nights,_ though given it belongs to Ra’s Al Ghul it’s probably pretty darn old. The bits Rachel actually reads out are taken from Sir Richard Burton’s 1850 translation of _The Arabian Nights_ , specifically the opening of _Sinbad the Seaman and Sinbad the Landsman_ [found here.](http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/burt1k1/tale17.htm)

hCG aka human chorionic gonadotropin is the “pregnancy hormone”. It’s produced by the placenta right after implantation and can usually be deteted in the blood 2-3 days afterward and in urine 3-4 days afterward. It’s actually what home pregnancy tests (aka “pee on a stick” tests) are testing for. [According to this site](http://www.babymed.com/hcg-blood-level-by-week-during-pregnancy-is-it-normal) you can get an estimate of length of pregnancy via a woman’s hCG levels.

Alexander Knox is the reporter in the 1989 _Batman_ movie. The Mayor is the same one from _Batman Begins_ and yeah that’s a non-Two Face Hannah Dent.

Yes that is the Joker shooting Rachel Wayne at the Police Ball.

 _Al-Eizariya_ actually means _Place of Lazarus_ and [is actually a city in the West Bank](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Eizariya). I’m just using it as a way of saying “Lazarus Pit” in Arabic.


	2. Ad August Per Angusta

_Ad Augusta Per Angusta = Latin for “To High Places By Narrow Roads”_

For the first time in many, many years, the man Rachel Wayne knows as Henri Ducard finds himself struggling to maintain a neutral expression as he congratulates his beloved, informing her that she is ready to become a member of the League of Shadows— that all she must do is demonstrate her commitment to justice. The pride he feels is replaced with a flicker of doubt when she initially refuses the sword he offers her.

 “Please beloved— don’t turn back, not now. Show us that you have the will to act.” Henri whispers. “All the League asks is that you have the courage to do what is necessary.”

He does not try to contain the soft pleased exhale that slips out when she takes the sword from his hands, raises it above her head and, after a moment’s hesitation, brings the sword down. It takes him a second to realize that instead of slicing through the murder’s neck his beloved has sliced through the man’s bonds. As Rachel brings the sword back up, sending the poker that was sitting in the brazier in front of them flying, Henri turns towards her— one hand reaching for the dagger concealed at his waist— but instead of moving to subdue or disarm her, he finds himself asking her a question.

“What are you doing?”

“What is necessary beloved.” She replies and before he can respond she bring the sword down again, hilt first, knocking her fiancé out with one swift strike… he does not know how much time passes before he wakes— bruised and battered but, all things considered, relatively unharmed.  He stays just long enough for the peasant who his fiancé apparently left him in the care of to describe the woman who “saved his life” and to accept the brief message which she had left for him. Then the man whom Rachel Wayne had known as Henri Ducard starts to make his way back up the mountain, back up to the Monastery.

The ancient building is half-destroyed and still smoldering when he arrives. The members of the League of Shadows are hard at work putting out the flames, recovering what they can from the rubble and relocating it to the sections of the Monastery which are still standing or which are underground. As Henri surveys the scene a cry rings out from the section of the Monastery which has almost entirely been reduced to rubble— someone has located the body of the man whom Rachel Wayne knew as Ra’s Al Ghul.

Most of the inhabitants of the Monastery know that the man whose body they have found is not actually that of Ra’s Al Ghul. Those who do not know this are largely students and other individuals who are not true members of the League of Shadows. Some, mostly those members of the League who have recently been transferred to the Monastery believe that the real Ra’s Al Ghul is at some other base of operations. However most of the teachers and members of the League of Shadows who have called the Monastery home for any real length of time know that Ra’s Al Ghul lives amongst them— under the mask of Henri Ducard, right hand of the Demon’s Head. Those who are unaware of the existence of this mask believe Henri Ducard to be Ra’s Al Ghul’s heir… or at the very least his heir apparent.

So when “Henri Ducard” steps forward and starts shouting orders the members of the League of Shadows obeys with only a moment’s hesitation… even when the last of those orders is that no hostile action will be taken against Rachel Antonietta Wayne or those she holds dear by any member, student or associate of the League of Shadows.

The members of the League of Shadows do not question this order and Ra’s Al Ghul does not explain himself. If pressed it is likely that he would not be able to, for his reason for his orders is a snarled mess of desire, regret, belief and something which might be called _hope_ if not for the fact that it is far too dark and twisted to be given that name…

Rachel is the most promising student he has ever taken under his wing. _I pushed her too hard, too far, too fast_. She is the first woman in years which are almost beyond counting whom he could call _beloved_ and not have the word be a lie or bring to mind the lingering bitterness of the beloved wife he had lost so long ago. _After the attempt on her life I allowed fear to dictate my actions_. So while other students left the Monastery on missions, Rachel had remained behind with him. _I sheltered her… like a child._ When it came time for her final test she saw only a man, beaten and broken. She hadn’t seen the mutilated body of the man whose land he coveted. _No wonder she disobeyed._ He had told her not to turn back. He had urged her to show that she had the will to act and the courage to do what is necessary… all while calling her beloved. _No wonder she fled._

But before she fled she had called him **_beloved_** and when she could have struck him down she knocked him out. She could have left him behind to the uncertain fate of the explosions rocking the Monastery, the biting cold of the snow and the League of Shadows— who as far as Rachel knew could have seen “Henri” as a failure or worse and acted accordingly. But instead she had carried him down the mountain. Yes, she had left him with a peasant family— but she’d carried the pendant he’d given her with him and she’d left him a message… _I love you_.

She could have struck him down in the Monastery. She could have left him there, to be crushed as his bodyguard was crushed. She could have left him in the snow, to perhaps perish before he was found by the League. She could have left him to a potentially hostile League. She could have returned the pendant he’d given her. She could have left him with no note. She could have left him with a different note— such as _I loved you_.

But she hadn’t… and for Ra’s Al Ghul this is enough. He issues his orders half in hope and half believing that, given time, his beloved will change her mind, that her return to Gotham will show her the error of her ways. He puts no hold on his plans to cleanse the city, believing that soon enough Rachel will see he is right to do so, that Gotham should burn, that it _deserves_ to burn.

Thus Rachel Wayne returns to Gotham, unmolested by the members and associates of the League of Shadows… but not unwatched. Ra’s Al Ghul is kept well informed of every move that his beloved former student makes, from her asking William Earle for a job to her increasingly theatrical nocturnal activities. Less than twenty minutes after Rachel Wayne ties one of Gotham’s most influential mob bosses to a search light Ra’s Al Ghul issues orders that “the Gotham vigilante” is not to be unnecessarily, seriously or irrevocably harmed by any members or associates of the League of Shadows.

_In another universe Jonathan Crane receives this order— but only after he encounters the vigilante. **In another universe there an oversight and he never receives the order.**_ _In another universe he receives the order but accidently uses too much of his gas. **In another universe he ignores the order and there is nothing accidental about the amount of gas he uses.** In another something different happens, **in another something else happens,** on and on and on until every possibility and outcome— no matter how likely or unlikely— ha been exhausted._

But in _this_ universe Jonathan Crane receives Ra’s Al Ghul’s orders before he encounters the vigilante face to face— or rather cowl to mask. In this universe Crane uses just enough of his gas to send her reeling away from him, more alarmed at the sudden cloud than anything else. Jonathan Crane takes advantage of this temporary confusion and flees, pausing only long enough to ignite the gasoline which his henchmen had poured out earlier. The entire room seems to ignite within a matter of seconds, forcing the vigilante to leap out of the window which she had not long ago used to gain entry to the apartment.

She manages to land with relative ease and perhaps even some sort of grace on a nearby rooftop, but as she starts to stand in order to chase after Jonathan Crane she finds herself freezing. She swears that, out of the corner of her eyes, she can see a nightmarish swarm of bats… but when she gives in to the desire to turn and look, there is nothing there.  With shaking hands she activates the communicator that connects her to Alfred and stops down on the fear and dread that has taken up residence in her chest and stomach for long enough to call for help.

When Rachel Wayne looks back on the events of that night in the days, weeks, months and years to come she will find herself unable to remember how she made her way down off the roof of the building and into the nondescript car driven by her butler. Her memories of the drive back to Wayne Manor are comprised mostly of hallucinations— bats crashing into and through the windshield of the car, bloody hands clawing at the windows, her cape turning into some sort of living creature that winds around her like a snake and squeezes. There is a gap of missing time and the next thing Rachel remembers she’s sitting on the edge of her bed, Alfred hovering next to her like a parent at the bedside of a sick child. She’s staring at the pieces of her suit, which are lying on the floor in front of her and fighting to keep from flinching at the hallucinatory bats which her mind swears are dive-bombing her.

“I’ve felt these effects before.” It’s hard to talk— every time she opens her mouth she has to fight the urge to scream or throw up— and the visual hallucinations have been joined by auditory ones so she can’t be sure she’s speaking loud enough, or if she’s even speaking at all. “But this is more… more potent _._ Like it’s been weaponized.”

She swears that she only closes her eyes for a second, but when she opens them again she is lying down in the center of the bed, practically drowning in her own sweat as Alfred Pennyworth and Lucius Fox lean over her. They are talking to each other and she can’t follow the conversation, because their faces keep twisting unnaturally like she’s looking at their reflections in funhouse mirrors and their voices seem to shift in pitch after every other word. Rachel clutches at the bedspread beneath her… _only for her hands to close around nothing as she falls into darkness and is carried away by a veritable tornado of bats._

_Suddenly finds herself kneeling on the cold hard ground, one knee in a puddle which shines with oil, with her head tilted back so that she is staring up at a flickering street light. She takes a deep breath which sends a shudder through her entire body and looks around, only half surprised to find herself in Crime Alley, with the bodies of her parents lying in front of her and blood on her hands. Something between a sob and a scream escapes from her lips as she throws herself forward, reaching out for her mother and father— only for world to warp around her so that instead of kneeling she’s lying on her back in the old well, looking up at a far distant circle of daylight. A whimper of pain escapes from her lips as Bruce Dawes appears, stares down at her from the edge of the well far above._

_“Bruce!” She cries out, but the word comes out as little more than a whisper. She gasps in pain and reaches out towards her childhood friend. But as she looks but Bruce’s face twists into a sneer and he looks down at her like one would look at something nasty which they’ve got on their shoe… like how he looked at her when she’d shown him the gun and admitted that she had been planning on killing Joe Chill._

_Rachel flinches as she two bats appear out of the darkness and slam into her face and neck, hitting her exactly where Bruce had all those years ago before she went off to confront Falcone. She cries out, hand flying to her stinging cheek and head bending down, pulling her gaze away from Bruce._

_“Your father would be ashamed.”  He practically growls, his voice seeming to come not just from above but from all around her, followed shortly by the sound of the bars of her cell in the Chinese prison slamming closed, which is accompanied by the light above her vanishing… leaving Rachel into complete darkness once again._

_But she doesn’t remain in darkness for long. Soon the world is warping around her once again, so that she finds herself not only standing, but walking through the darkened corridors of the Monastery, the sound of the bats merging with that of the wind outside the ancient walls. For a moment the scene is almost peaceful— but then she goes around a corner and finds herself standing in the Monastery’s main room, where she had fought to become Henri Ducard’s student, to learn how to become more than just a man… and where she had fought Ra’s Al Ghul and the League of Shadows when she learned that they wanted her to destroy Gotham._

_The room at first appears to be entirely deserted and mostly dark, illuminated only by a few scattered torches and braziers. Then, as Rachel walks further into the room, most of the light sources dim and fade away, save for the brazier in the middle— the one which had held the poker which had played such an important part in her fight against Ra’s Al Ghul. Standing beside this brazier is Henri Ducard, wearing the dark outfit of the League of Shadows and holding the sword which he had offered to her as part of her final trial. As soon as Rachel catches sight of Henri he starts walking towards her... but he does not raise his sword to cut her down. Instead he returns the blade to its scabbard and offers Rachel his left hand. Her entire body trembles as she reaches out to take it and Henri pulls her into his arms in a warm embrace that tears at Rachel’s heart because she is certain she will never feel this embrace in real life. As she returns her embrace and rests her head on his chest the walls of the Monastery fall to pieces around them, revealing the familiar streets and buildings of Gotham._

_The city around them is a strange mix of the half-remembered Gotham of her childhood and the Gotham she had found after returning from her time with the League of Shadows… and it is burning. But it is not burning in the way that a real city would burn, not with buildings blackening and crumbling and twisting from the heat. Instead the city is burning as if it is a child’s drawing of a city on fire, or some sort of special effect for a theme park ride.  As she stares at the scene around her Henri leans down, presses a kiss to her lips._

_Her legs go out from underneath her and Henri gently guides her to the ground, so that she is kneeling in front of him, kneeling in the ashes of her city and the streets start to run red with blood. She looks down at her hands, stained with her parents' blood, as Henri draws his sword and prepares to end her life, like she had been told to end the life of the murderer. She takes a shaky breath and looks up at her beloved— who is no longer clad in the  black ninja like garb of the members of the League of Shadows, but instead wears an ornate outfit of dark green, black and gold that reminds her of.. of the clothes which **Ra’s Al Ghul** had worn._

_As Rachel stares at him she feels her mouth open and close, and finds herself speaking the last words which Henri had said to her— “What are you doing?”— as her beloved brings his sword up over his head._

_Henri Ducard pauses for a moment, the blade in his hands seeming to glow with the reflected light of the flames all around them… then he replies, whispering the last words which Rachel had said to him— “What is necessary beloved.”_

_Henri Ducard brings the sword down and just before it cuts into Rachel Wayne’s neck_ she wakes up, gasping for breath and pressing hand to her neck, upon which she swears she can feel cold steel. Alfred Pennyworth is sitting at her bedside, with a glass of water that she slowly drinks as he informs her that she has been unconscious for some six hours and Lucius Fox is at Wayne Enterprises, hard at work on creating an antidote to the gas. It takes Rachel a moment to speak— her throat aches, as if she has been screaming and her brain is still scattered— but the first thing that she says is that Lucius needs to make as much of that antidote as he can, as soon as he can. She falls asleep as Alfred relays this message to Lucius and, thankfully, she does not dream.

Two days later Bruce Dawes goes to the Narrows to interview Carmine Falcone and accuses Jonathan Crane of corruption. While rescuing her childhood friend Rachel learns of his plans to contaminate the city’s water supply… and gets confirmation that the man is working for Ra’s Al Ghul. Before Rachel is even out of Gotham she has contacted Lucius Fox and instructed him to start distributing the antidote he’s concocted… and she finds out about the microwave emitter which William Earle has “misplaced”. After entrusting Bruce Dawes into Alfred’s care and changing into something more appropriate for the Princess of Gotham Rachel strides into her birthday party, her thoughts focused not on her guests but on the League of Shadows— and if Henri Ducard will be one of the members charged with destroying Gotham. And then…

“Rachel!” An elderly woman in a strapless gown grabs her arm, pulling her to one side of the room. “There’s somebody here you simply have to meet… now am I pronouncing this right, Mr. Razzall Gool?”

There is a tall, broadly built man with a shaved head standing in front of her, a green cloak over his shoulders and the blue flower of the League of Shadows in his buttonhole. It takes Rachel a second before she recognizes the man as Ubu, a member of the League of Shadows whom she had met a handful of times at the Monastery, as he had spent most of his time out recruiting new members. Ubu nods his head ever so slightly to her, his eyes hard but not in a hateful way. The woman who had dragged Rachel over seems to vanish, her attention apparently drawn elsewhere in the room— and Rachel realizes that she’s been pulled into a sort of alcove created by two large plants and a folding screen, so that despite the fact that she’s still in the ballroom and can still look around and see her guests, she is effectively hidden from all of those guests and essentially alone with “Ra’s Al Ghul.”

 “You’re not Ra’s Al Ghul.” Rachel has to struggle to keep her voice calm and measured. “I watched him die.”

“But is Ra’s Al Ghul immortal?” A shiver races down Rachel spine as a horribly familiar voice whispers in her ear. Her stomach twists in knots as she realizes what has happened and slowly turns to face the man she had thought was Henri Ducard. “Are his methods supernatural?”

He is wearing a black tuxedo, with a velvet scarf and a tie pin bearing the same symbol which decorates the pendant he gave her, the pendant she still wears around her neck albeit hidden by the somewhat conservative nature of her dress’ neckline. He has in his hands a polished ebony cane, which he was resting on his shoulder but allows to slowly slide through his hand so that its tip touches the floor. His gaze drops for a second, to the chain on which her pendant hangs and the corner of his mouth twists upward slightly before he allows himself to smile at her and Rachel blinks once to keep her eyes dry.

“Or are they cheap parlor tricks to conceal your true identity… Ra’s.” Despite her best attempts to control herself, Rachel’s voice cracks as the _true_ name of the man passes her lips.

“Surely a woman who spends her nights scrambling over the rooftops of Gotham wouldn’t begrudge me dual identities?” Ra’s asks as he takes a step closer, his voice dropping into something more approbation for the bedroom then a ballroom and elegantly raises one eyebrow.

“A woman who loved you and was lied to would.” Rachel replies, resisting the urge to back away from Ra’s— which would only result in her being literally backed into a corner— and forcing herself to look straight at him and meet his gaze. “I save your life.”

“And for that, and for my own mistakes, I offer you my sincerest apologies and a second chance.” Henri whispers, reaching up to gently push a lock of hair back behind her ear as he leans in close enough that Rachel can feel his breath on her lips. “Beloved…”

She turns to the side, causing the man she loved— the man whom a part of her still loves— to take a step forward, allowing her to step around him and back towards the open ballroom floor. Quickly she scans the crowd of guests, easily picking out what have to be members of the League of Shadows, some of whom she recognizes from her time at the Monastery.  Closest of all those members is Ubu, who appears to be standing guard over Ra’s Al Ghul.

“I will not help you destroy—” She is interrupted by Hen— by Ra’s Al Ghul placing a hand on her shoulder and pulling her around to face him once more.

“I am not asking you to.”

“Then why are you here?”

“To offer you protection— the men whom you took note of just now have served me loyally and come from families who have served me for generations… everyone of them would gladly give their life to protect you.”

“Protect me?” Rachel frowns. “From what?”

“From yourself.” Ra’s Al Ghul replies. “Beloved, all I ask is that you remain here tonight—”

“While you destroy Gotham.”

“While I _cleanse_ Gotham. That is why my men are here… to protect you from yourself, from your weakness.”

“My weakness?”

“As I told you before, your compassion is a weakness your enemies will not share.” As he speaks Ra’s Al Ghul reaches up to cup Rachel’s cheek and despite herself she tilts her head and leans towards him. “Tomorrow I will gift you with a city worthy of you— and you shall have the full assistance of the League of Shadows and our allies in guiding that city down the proper path.”

Before Rachel can say anything Ra’s Al Ghul’s hand slips around the back of her head and he leans forward to kiss her. Rachel’s hands fist the material of her dress and her mouth tastes of ash and blood. Soon enough Ra’s Al Ghul pulls away and Rachel finds herself alone in the little secluded corner of the ballroom— with Ubu lurking nearby in what would be considered an unobtrusive manner by anyone _not_ trained by the League of Shadows. Without looking at the man she sets out across the ballroom floor, hyperaware that the other members of the League of Shadows are following her movement and ensuring that they are covering the room’s exits… and paying particularly attention to those which lead outside the Manor.

So instead she makes her way towards the ballroom exit which leads deeper in to the Manor. As she steps out of the ballroom Alfred Pennyworth falls into step beside and slightly behind her while, judging from the noise of the doors opening and closing behind them, there are three or four members of the League of Shadows following a short distance behind him. Rachel silently opens the door to the study which had once been her mothers and stepped aside to allow Alfred entrance.

Before Rachel can close the door Ubu steps forward and throws out his hand, preventing her from closing the door. Rachel silently stares at the man, who simply looks past her in order to survey the room. Rachel can easily follow his assessment— apart from the doorway they are currently standing in there is no other entrance or exit to the room, apart from two stained glass windows which wouldn’t allow one to exit the room unless they were broken— so she is unsurprised when he removes his hand and gestures at two of the men accompanying him. The men heads off, likely to station himself outside the windows, and Rachel takes great pleasure in slamming the door closed and locking it.

She turns to find that Alfred has already flipped back the head of the bust of Shakespeare which sits next to the piano and as she crosses the room he presses the button which opens a secret passageway to the cave beneath the Manor— a passageway which they had just finished constructing yesterday. So Rachel Wayne heads down into the cave beneath her family’s home and a short time later Batwoman heads out to confront Ra’s Al Ghul, to save Gotham from the League of Shadow and perhaps, in the process, find a way to save the city from itself… and against all odds she succeeds. She returns to the Manor thinking that she will have another fight waiting for her, but instead she finds the mansion deserted, with only a busted lock on the door to her study showing any evidence that the League of Shadows had been there.

Four days after she stops the League of Shadows from destroying Gotham, Rachel Wayne gives into Alfred Pennyworth’s demands that she get a complete physical… and she also gives into the butler’s suggestions that Leslie Thompkins— who went to medical school with Rachel’s father and had been something of an Aunt to Rachel when she was younger— be trusted with the knowledge not only of what Rachel does with her nights, but what she was doing all those years that she was gone from Gotham. Leslie Thompkins responds to this veritable information dump by running what feels like entirely too many tests, drawing entirely too much blood— and discovering that Rachel is almost five months pregnant.

For a moment she considers getting an abortion— but just for a moment. Before Leslie can even offer her that option Rachel has decided to keep the child and has moved on to trying to figure out _how_ to do that. For Rachel Wayne the decision is simple enough— even if she hadn’t regained control of Wayne Enterprises from William Earle and made Lucius Fox CEO she would have enough money to live in extreme comfort for the rest of her natural life and the natural lives of at least four generations of Waynes. Sure, the tabloids and certain elements of society will be all over her for being an unwed mother, but she’s been dealing with the press since before her parents were murdered, so she holds no fear on that front.

No, the problems with her pregnancy are all centered around the _other_ part of her life. It’s a miracle that she hasn’t already lost her child— continuing her nighttime activities would all but guarantee that she lose her child. However Batwoman can’t exactly just vanish— not after she took down the League of Shadows, not when criminals are starting to be scared to go out at night. If she went on some sort of “maternity leave” then she’d just lose the trust of Gotham… and make it easier for someone to connect Batwoman to Rachel Wayne.

She shares this train of thought with Alfred as the two of them go over the information that Leslie has given her— information on prenatal vitamins, pregnancy safe activities, obstetricians in Gotham and a modified version of her medical records that mention everything important but hide the fact she’s Batwoman. As Alfred arranges an appointment with one of the obstetricians from the list, Rachel reaches out to one of the people she’d encountered on her trip around the world… a man who has a minor role with the British Government, who opens the call by congratulating her on thwarting the League of Shadows plans and ends the conversation with a promise to inquire among his employees and allies to see if there is someone trustworthy who would be willing to play the part of Gotham’s Dark Knight for a few months.

Batwoman doesn’t go out that night, though if she had Rachel Wayne might have gotten more sleep and looked a little less like death warmed over when she goes in for her first appointment with Gotham’s top rated obstetrician the following day. That appointment is followed up by a check in with Lucius Fox and a longer meeting with Wayne Enterprises PR department in which a plan of attack is drawn up for how the company and Rachel herself will respond to the tabloids. By the time Rachel returns to Wayne Manor the TV gossip shows are already beginning to buzz about her trip to the obstetrician… while press releases are just starting to be sent out to the more reputable news organizations by senior members of the PR department.

While Alfred heads off to the kitchen to cook something horribly healthy— there are already four different flyers containing information on nutrition and pregnancy attached to the fridge— Rachel heads out into the gardens and finds herself heading towards the west side of the Manor, where a weeping willow has stood for as long as she can remember.

The willow hasn’t been pruned recently, so Rachel is practically within arms’ reach of the tree’s trunk before she realizes that there is someone sitting on the stone bench where her mother had liked to read on summer days. One hand instantly moves towards her pocket and the batarang concealed there, but before she can grab it she finds herself freezing in shock… because the man sitting on the stone bench is Ra’s Al Ghul and the last time she’d seen him he’d been trapped on a subway car that was about to crash.

“Good afternoon beloved.”

The Leader of the League of Shadows is wearing a light gray suit over a dark blue collared shirt which has the top two buttons undone. He is almost casually seated upon the stone bench, with a male and female member of the League of Shadows standing behind him. On Ra’s Al Ghul’s right is Ubu, while on his left stands a Caucasian woman with auburn hair and brown eyes who is roughly the same height and build as Rachel.

If she had expected Ra’s Al Ghul to be anything other than dead she would have expected him to be angry, to strike out at her for disobeying him, for leaving him to die, for choosing Gotham over him, over them. But the man she loved— and whose child she is carrying— wears the same expression which had graced his face in the Monastery whenever he was proud of her, whenever she’d learned something quicker than expected, or defeated a more capable opponent. Despite everything that has happened, despite everything she has learned, that expression on his face sends a thrill down her spine and she finds herself having to resist the urge to smile at him.

In an attempt to control herself she tries to figure out how on earth Ra’s Al Ghul is standing in front of her. To ground herself she runs a finger over the edge of the batarang in her pocket, feeling it’s sharpness but not cutting herself… and finds herself echoing something which Ra’s Al Ghul had said to her only a few days ago.

“Is Ra’s Al Ghul immortal?”

“That… is complicated.” Ra’s replies. “How far along are you?”

She’s not surprised that he’s found out about her pregnancy... in fact she is certain that he knows the answer to his question, so she decides to tell the truth.

“Almost five months.” She replies. “It’s a boy.”

Ra’s Al Ghul’s expression changes so suddenly that Rachel finds herself taking a step back… where before he had seemed proud, now he seems practically ecstatic, as if he has just been told the best news in the history of good news. After a moment he composes himself, stands up and makes a quick motion with his hand, which apparently signals the female member of the League of Shadows to step forward.

“This is Phylonoe... she should be able to serve as Batwoman until you have delivered our child and are recovered.” Ra’s Al Ghul informs her.

“The League of Shadows tried to destroy Gotham… why should I trust one of its members to be Batwoman?”

“Because if you accept this offer then I shall keep the League of Shadows out of Gotham’s affairs.” Ra’s Al Ghul replies. “My deeds and actions could have killed our child... so I owe you a debt. Phylonoe shall form part of the repayment of that debt.”

 “I shall obey you in all things.” The woman says, taking a step forward before falling to her knees and bowing her head to Rachel. “I shall do as you would do, so that when you resume your title none would know a change had ever occurred.”

“And what of my son?” Rachel asks, one hand wrapping around her stomach.

 “All I ask is to see him, from time to time.” Ra’s Al Ghul replies. “If you wish, then I will even play the part of Henri Ducard until you deem him old enough to understand.”

After a moment’s consideration Rachel reaches into her other pocket, pulls out the cell phone she keeps there and dials a number that she hopes is still the right number. Ra’s Al Ghul, Ubu and Phylonoe watch silently as she waits for the person on the other end to pick up.

“Medea— it’s Rachel. Can you magically bind someone to an oath?”

 

* * *

 

 

_Author’s Note: This took me entirely too long to write because I got hung up on two things. First I got hung up on how the birthday party scene went down and then I kept flip flopping on how Rachel Wayne moves forward. I was originally split between Mycroft finding some agent to play Batwoman and Rachel Wayne sorta blackmailing the Justice League into helping her, before I finally settled upon having Ra’s Al Ghul be the answer._

_The outfit Henri Ducard briefly wears in Rachel’s little hallucination sequence is something similar to Ra’s Al Ghul’s outfit in Arrow, see[here](https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/16/70/f6/1670f60cc3143b00e748b9089faa2aae.jpg) and [here](https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/30/37/3f/30373fd0874116fa573c4c1366c1c778.jpg)._

_Leslie Thompkins comes from Batman: The Animated Series, though she does also appear in other Batman media, such as the comics where she’s tied into Stephanie Brown’s storyline._

_Yes, the weeping willow which Rachel and Ra’s have their little conversation beneath is the same one that in the main storyline she buries their son beneath._

_Phylonoe was one of the maidens that attended Artemis, the Greek goddess of hunting, wild animals, children and birth. She’s not based on anyone cause I couldn’t come up with someone form Batman cannon to base her on or some Batman creator to have her pay homage to._

_At the end Rachel is calling Medea Blood— Scilicet…’s version of Jason Blood / Etrigan. Cause Rachel may hate magic, but she knows when it’s a good idea to use it._


End file.
